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30 October 2008

A Nod to the Past

Today it was cold enough for heavy flannel slacks. Recently, I bought a nice pair with inverted pleats, which I worried about because of the pleats. Generally speaking, I'm a plain front pants kind of guy. But these pants called to me. I realized that if you want to pull off pleats stylishly, one way is to channel the old days. Think 1930's. As with everything in men's clothing, it's all in the details. Here is my attempt:

For one thing, I wore a slightly wider tie with a woven pattern. I was really digging the whole navy/green/blue/pink combo.

And for shoes and belt, I stuck with a buttery orange shade of brown, and split toes instead of wingtips, with light colored socks. Something about grey flannel and orange leather is very British to me.

Chesterfield topcaot from Andover Shop, $9.99 (swear to God)

Top it all off with a Chesterfield topcoat and a floppy cap in Black Watch Tartan.

Voila! The Ivy League style from before the 3/2, button down collar days. I apologize for the gratuitous amount of photos this post, which include my ugly mug, but I was pretty proud of this outfit, and it kept me warm to boot. If only I had attended Yale in 1928, I might not have had to think so hard about this one as I was getting dressed.

Your feedback on what other contexts I might be able to mask those pleats in would be greatly appreciated, dear readers.

4 comments:

I found a pair of grey flannels with inverted pleats at a thrift store last summer (I went in and found that it was half-off day, and surprisingly found something!) - I will put those to use someday soon, and your post gave me ideas, thanks!

Giuseppe, nice look! Very well played. 1928? When the weather is colder, I'm pretty much like this most days. Sure, the trad/ivy look has enough breadth that one can also wear plain and English collars, and pleated trousers. No sense getting too narrow about a trad "look." Btw, that Chesterfield is wonderfully elegant.